Railway Museums

[Violette]

How many railway museums are there in England? What type? Any recommendations? Favourites? I could use some travel tips.

 

[hexagon789]

How many railway museums are there in England? What type? Any recommendations? Favourites? I could use some travel tips.

By 'museum', do you mean building or buildings full of purely static objects or would heritage lines which are, in essence, living museums also count?

The former would run to only a handful, slightly more if transport museums with railway vehicles and objects in their collections were counted, while the latter would total considerably more.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

@Violette. Good question! The obvious one is the National Railway Museum up in York, although that's possibly a bit far if you're travelling from the South Coast.

There's a list of other (slightly nearer) possibilities on Wikipedia..

List of railway museums in the United Kingdom - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Farigiraf]

How many railway museums are there in England? What type? Any recommendations? Favourites? I could use some travel tips.

Near Southampton there's Havenstreet station on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway which hosts a small museum in addition to the heritage rail services. Train to Portsmouth, ferry to Ryde, train to Smallbrook then 1 stop on the steam railway, or alternatively you can take the ferry to Cowes and then two buses (route 1 and 33).
It's an obvious one but if you haven't been already, the London Transport Museum is also worth a visit.

 

[A S Leib]

Just in terms of ones near(ish) Southampton, depending on what exactly you're counting as a railway museum, I can think of the Mid-Hants Railway, Isle of Wight Steam Railway, Swanage Railway, Hayling Light Railway, North Dorset Railway, Amberley Museum, Milestones Museum, Didcot Railway Centre, and STEAM (Swindon). Of those, I'd call the first five preserved, heritage or other private railways*, the next two museums with trains (well, a train and tram, for Milestones), and the last two proper railway museums.

*From memory, Mid-Hants has some sort of museum or workshop viewing area; I'm unsure for the others.